Breaking news reporter

A young Australian man has been allegedly tortured in a South Sudan military prison after his supporters say he was wrongly arrested during ethnic clashes on a trip to visit his family.

Manyang Maker Tulba, 21, was one of 100 people taken into custody in February during fighting in Rumbek, in South Sudan's north.

But Magang Chol Mathei, the chairman of the Rumbek Youth Union in Australia, claims Mr Tulba, a university graduate who was born in South Sudan but moved to Perth in 2003, was not involved in the violence but merely witnessed the clashes.

He said Mr Tulba was in a house near where the violence unfolded and was swept up in the arrests.

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Mr Tulba's mother, who was with him at the time, also has been arrested and is being held in a separate prison, according to reports from Sudan.

Mr Mathei told the Sudan Tribune that Mr Tulba had not been allowed visits from relatives, lawyers or human rights officials during his incarceration.

He had also been tortured, Mr Mathei claimed, saying Mr Tulba was "innocent" and there was "no need for him to be detained and tortured while he was not there where the fighting was occurred [sic]".

"There is no any protection at all. I am concern about his welfare and his future [sic]," he said.

He urged youth leaders in the area to approach the provincial governor to ask him to free prisoners who were not involved in the recent violence.

Mr Tulba was one of about 100 young men from the Kok section of the Dinka tribe who were arrested during the clashes in February.

Mr Tulba graduated from Perth's Edith Cowan University in 2011 with a bachelor of criminology and justice.

A spokesman for Foreign Minister Bob Carr said a 21-year-old Australian man had been taken into custody during a mass arrest following a public demonstration in Rumbek on February 26.

The detained man’s brother, who lives in Melbourne, had notified the Australian Government the following day.

"It's not clear whether he was taking part in the demonstration or whether he was simply there," the spokesman said.

The spokesman said the closest Australian embassy was in Nairobi in Kenya, and consular officials had asked to see the prisoner immediately and to find out the reasons for his arrest. However those requests had not been successful.

Staff were contacting the provincial governor’s office and anyone associated with the prison in a bid to find out more information.

"The minister has asked our embassy in Kenya to renew these representations with the South Sudan government and we will make every effort to get to see him and offer consular assistance," the spokesman said.